At both the national and club level, England has had some great soccer teams. Admittedly, English club soccer teams have done much better in the European football tournaments, but the national team has still had some fine players. These are a few of the greatest English teams in soccer history.
Undoubtedly, the English soccer team of 1966 was England’s finest. In 1962, England’s team started to show some promise, and the appointment of Alf Ramsey provided the momentum for England’s 1966 glory. Alf Ramsey’s team had plenty of talent, including players such as the prolific striker Jimmy Greaves, Bobby Charlton, Bobby Moore, Gordon Banks, and Geoff Hurst in their line-up. In the 1966 World Cup, these players would win the soccer World Cup after a thrilling 4-2 victory against Germany in the final. During this game, a hat-trick from Hurst sealed the victory and the World Cup. They remain the only England team to win the soccer World Cup.
These days, most of the English clubs that win the Champions League and European football tournaments have numerous foreign players. However, those English club teams that won the former European Cup had far fewer foreign players and more English players. This was true of the great Man Utd team that won the 1968 European Cup, which had only a few British players from beyond England. For the most part, English players such as Brian Kidd, Bobby Charlton, and Nobby Stiles dominated the team.
In 1968, Utd had reached their first European Cup final after a semi-final victory against Madrid and played Benfica at Wembley. The game ended 1-1 after 90 minutes, but in extra time, Benfica crumbled as Utd went on to score a further three goals. As such, they became the first English club team to win the European Cup.
No team had ever won the ‘impossible’ double in the 20th century. That was until this great Tottenham team proved that the double could indeed be won. Unlike more recent double-winning sides, namely Arsenal and Chelsea, Tottenham’s double-winning side was a largely English one, with Welsh and Scottish players also in the team.
Spurs made a fantastic start in the league, winning their first eleven games and never looking back. They won the league scoring more than 100 goals, and then they added the FA Cup for good measure by beating Leicester City in the final. With players such as Danny Blanchflower and Jimmy Greaves on their side, this team would also go on to win the Cup Winners’ Cup in 1963 and were the first English club team to win one of the European soccer tournaments.
These were three great English teams that won a variety of soccer trophies. They include the World Cup-winning England team, along with the European Cup-winning Utd team, and the Tottenham double winners that were largely English players. Today, the top Premiership clubs in Europe have more foreign players, and so they are not truly English teams.
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